A Guide to Aquafaba

What is it?

It’s is the liquid leftover from cooked chickpeas. You can obtain it two ways:

1) Drain a can of chickpeas and reserve the liquid. Or,

2) Cook your own chickpeas and reserve the leftover cooking liquid. The second method is less reliable, in my opinion, because the aquafaba can be too thin and you may need to cook it down, making it more time consuming.

Beginners should rely on aquafaba from canned chickpeas for ease!

How do you whip it?

The trick to whipping aquafaba is using a hand or stand mixer! Whisking it by hand takes quite a long time and does not produce as good of results in my experience. I use this hand mixer and it works like a dream.

Whipping aquafaba generally takes 3-6 minutes to get to semi-firm peaks, depending on your equipment and how thick your aquafaba was to begin with. So take your time and don’t be discouraged if it takes some time to reach stiff peaks! It can require a little practice and patience.

Because aquafaba is such a recent discovery – only in the last few years – there are tons of uses that are yet to be explored! So be creative, use these methods and recipes as a starter guide, and go from there!

If you discover new creations, share them down below in the comments! And be sure to tag your aquafaba creations #minimalistbaker on Instagram so we can see. Cheers, friends!

Ingredients

Instructions

Drain your chickpeas and reserve the liquid - then you have aquafaba! Place in a large mixing bowl to whip!

The trick to whipping aquafaba is using a hand or stand mixer! Whisking it by hand takes quite a long time and does not produce as good of results. Another trick is to throw in 1/8-1/4 tsp cream of tartar, which causes the aquafaba to whip up much easier, faster, and makes the peaks firmer.

Whip your aquafaba to desired thickness. It generally requires 3-6 minutes to get to semi-firm peaks, depending on your equipment and how thick your aquafaba was to begin with. So take your time and don't be discouraged if it takes some time to reach stiff peaks.

Aquafaba can be used in a number of ways: 1) It can be added to recipes UNWHIPPED as an egg binder, such as in these Vegan Gluten Free Sugar Cookies. 2) It can be whipped into semi-soft peaks and added to recipes as a whipped egg white substitute, such as these Vegan Gluten Free Waffles! 3) It can be whipped into stiff peaks and made into things like Easy Vegan Macaroons and meringues (recipe to come!). It can also be used to make Vegan Mayo!

Because aquafaba is such a recent discovery - only in the last few years - there are tons of uses that are yet to be explored yet! So be creative, use these methods and recipes as a starter guide, and go from there! If you discover new creations, share them down below in the comments!

Notes

*Aquafaba was certainly not my discovery, only one that I have learned about and enjoyed exploring on my own. For more information, there is a whole website devoted to the origins of aquafaba and its uses!*1 15-ounce (425 g) can of chickpeas typically yields about 1/2 cup (120 ml) aquafaba, which typically whips up into ~2-3 cups aquafaba.*Nutrition information represents one 15-ounce can worth of aquafaba, which has minimal calories.

Hi, I was wondering about the strong taste of chickpeas everytime I make aquafaba meringue. I make it from canned chickpeas, and am not able to use it on lemon meringue pie for example because of the taste of it… any ideas? are you having the same problem?

I am a zero waste gal and I much prefer making my own beans out of dried beans rather than purchasing canned beans. I worry that the cans have the polymer linings and therefore can’t get recycled. That’s my main caveat. Do you have any thoughts? Do you think you could help me figure out how to homemade Aquafaba?

There’s actually plenty of guides on how to make it online. I haven’t tried it myself. But based on my research you essentially save the cooking liquid from your chickpeas and then cook the liquid down on low heat and reduce until it’s slightly thickened!

I love aquafaba! Thanks for your tips!
I’ve only used it in vegan mousse so far but it always goes down a treat, I’ve had many compliments. You’d never know it’s egg free!

I do have a question, I’ve seen other sites suggest you can use liquid from other lentils like cannellini beans. Are there any differences in the final texture if using something other than chickpeas? Doou think it would work with plain old canned lentils (they look like brown lentils to me)?
I don’t use chickpeas often and would hate to open a can just for the liquid! I seem to use lentils more frequently.
Looking forward to trying out some more of your aquafaba recipes! :) Thanks!

Hi Tash, we haven’t tried making aquafaba from other legumes. We would think cannellini beans would work better than lentils though. Hope that helps! If you give it a try, we would love to hear how it goes!

I think the chickpea liquid is the thickest. But I f you don’t use them often, just freeze flat and bag. Great in salads, soup… Take out what you need, they thaw quickly… run under warm water or low power microwave with water (if dry, they burn in microwave quickly)

I have a severe allergy to egg whites. So happy to have found this article. My grandmother made wonderful Schaum Torte. Do you think aquafaba will work for this? I think tthat I will give it a try and let you know.

I think I might just use this in a soap recipe. The saponins might just add to the lather as well. Very interesting stuff. Of course I’ll have to try it as a food as well. Thanks so much for the recipe. I’ll be sure and link you to my experiment on the Jen Spice YouTube channel if all goes well! :)Jen

I’ve finally used it myself and LOVED it.. however i have read also a couple of blog posts against it (chemicals, saponin content, etc).
What’s your view on it? I am still going to use it – and frankly, i have in the past even just used it cooking the chickpeas for lazyness.. but wondering…

I see you are using a regular can of chickpeas with added sodium. Have you experimented at all with no salt added or low sodium chickpeas? I wonder if there is a notable difference – esp. depending on how you plan to use it. I would imagine the salt isn’t an issue with something like vegan mayo, but I wonder if you would notice the salt if you were making something like whip cream sub? -Thank you.

It looked perfect until I added melted coconut oil to it (as directed in some other recipes on this blog ) and it turned into something strange… no fluffiness or color anymore. What could be the issue? What’s my mistake here?

Thank you, great recipe. Tried it this morning with the brine from a can of chick peas and it totally works. Amazing! Added the juice of one lemon and a some lemon zest, as well as 5 table spoons of powdered sugar. No cream of tartar, because I assumed that the acidity of the lemons would suffice.
With those ingredients, the taste is okay, but the chick pea flavour and the saltiness are still there somewhat.
It took less than 10 minutes to make. Visually it is almost indistinguishable from beaten egg white, expect that it’s off-white in colour. It would be an awesome base for chocolate mousse and great in any kind of baking, although I read in the comments that the foaminess may not be as resistant against heat as egg white is.
I was curious to see if it can be mixed with fat and stay foamy. Looks like it cannot. After adding some vegan butter and more beating, the foam deflated. This may be the reason it does not work for some people. Same as with egg-whites, you have to keep any kind of grease or oil away from the mixture.
As to the nutritious value: as with the beans or chick peas themselves, there may be flatulence, especially if you are not used to beans or chick peas in your diet. If you are a regular consumer of beans and/or hummus, you should not have any problems.
The salt content of chick peas from the can may be problem for some.
Someone mentioned the risk of favism. If you made this out of the “juice” of soaked fava beans, that might turn out to be a problem for some people, a relatively small percentage of people of Asian, Central African or Mediterranean descent. But who would do that, anyway?
The supposed ‘danger’ of eating food with saponins appears based on a misunderstanding. They are called saponins because they create foam like soap does, not the other way around. You are not eating soap. They are a regular food additive for cattle, for example, to reduce ammonia in their urine. Can’t be all that bad for you then, eh? Also, there are many types of saponins, as there are many types of sugars. Some are good food, some are to be avoided. Looks like the ones in chick peas are good for you. Who has ever heard of the ‘danger’ of eating chick peas or hummus?
Thanks again for a great article!

What?!!! I had no idea that the chickpea water was anything worth saving or using. Amazing!!! I can’t wait to try it in baked goods that need the fluff of egg without using egg. Energy egg replacer doesn’t always do the trick.

I haven’t yet made any really good desserts – tried 2 chocolate mousses recipes, but there was a saltiness to it that I didn’t care for. I am not giving up, though.
However, when I made a “cream of” soup, I added a can of white beans, whipped the liquid and used it as the “cream” – the soup was fantastic!

Hi I am trying to make meringue from chickpea water. I have so far had four attempts I have found many recipes and tweaked what I am doing but every time it just collapses into a gooey mess.
Please help!

I have seen recipes for Aquafaba and have wanted to try it. I agree with you that making my own from scratch would probably be too watery and unreliable. The problem I always have though when buying organic beans in a can is the BPA lined cans. I can’t understand why they still use those cans. Do you know of a brand that does not use them? Trader Joe’s cans are not BPA free unfortunately.

Hi, I tried a few times yesterday (good thing we like hummus!) . I found that no matter how slowly I added sugar, it deflated. I whipped it for 5 minutes, saw it start to fluff up, dribbled in 1/4 cup sugar over another 5 minutes, and it went back to liquid.

One recipe I saw called for 1/2 cup sugar (way too much), and to beat on medium. That one didn’t even begin to fluff up.

Oh, I was trying to make meringues for a vegan pavlova. I welcome advice!

10 minutes is probably too long to whip it. Aquafaba will deflate if it’s overwhipped. Also, I’ve never made meringues, but whenever I make something that needs to be whipped, I put the sugar in at the beginning. Using powdered sugar is also much easier.

Hi Dana;
I tried to make this vegan chocolate cake over the weekend. It uses aquafaba for the center. I used a hand blender and the liquid from two cans of chickpeas. I blended for 15 minutes and got beautiful peaks. I was so proud. Then I folded the chocolate into the aquafaba and it turned back into a liquid. That was so upsetting. I tried it a few times with the same results. What do you think I’m doing wrong? Is it a temperature issue? Thanks in advance.

I was wondering how and if you can turn the aquafaba into a powder yourself (I did see 1 being sold online) in order to use it as a replacement for meringue powder for icing and other recipes. I did see it has a very long shelf life. I also wonder if it would be an even replacement ratio.

Hey. My first time, trying to make aquafaba at home. I was scared it might get too watery, and added less water to start with. I burnt my chickpeas. (Realised what an idiot I am). Chickpeas are soft to squeeze though. Do you think it will work if I added a little more water and brought it to a boil? I can live with the smoky flavour.

I whipped my aquafaba to beautiful semi stiff peaks. But then when I added powdered sugar it watered down a bit. Further whipping aerated it a bit but it did not go back to the original glossy peaks. What did I do wrong?

Just had an epic fail with aquafaba-as I was trying to make my old praline macaroon recipe for Passover tonight. :( Not sure if there is a way to save it or make it into something else. I used 6 T of aquafaba, (it originally called for 3 egg whites) whipped it (calls for soft peaks)-added a little cream of tarter and they looked white and soft. But the next step calls for brown sugar to be added slowly and beaten until stiff peaks. I used coconut palm sugar which says it is ‘a rich unrefined brown sugar.’ EPIC FAIL!!! Never got stiff peaks-even added a bit more cream of tarter. It never got stiff at all after the sugar. Trying to figure out some way of saving it-maybe covering the nuts and baking, but my pecans are all chopped and the aqaufaba mixture is complete liquid. Perhaps I will stick it in the fridge and see if I can find some (whole) nuts to cover and bake. So disappointed! I know people have great success with aquafaba, so I hope you can recommend something.

Hi Deborah! We’re sorry to hear you had some difficulty. Finer sugar, like cane sugar, is generally best with aquafaba. It’s likely that the palm sugar is too dense for this and just didn’t whip. Additionally, it is pretty important to bring the aquafaba to light, fluffy peaks before adding any sugar, so perhaps that was the problem. Otherwise, we are not sure what could have been remedied! Hope this helps!

i just tried using aquafaba in a brownie recipe to substitute for eggs. it doesn’t seem to have worked! after 30 minutes of cooking they are still liquify. actually bubbling like a hot lasagna!! any suggestions? i usually use flax or chia eggs but i wanted to try this instead cause they work so well in your oatmeal cookie recipe. thanks!

I have been interested in aquafaba for a long time since I often cook chickpeas. Today I finally caved since I have had lemons in the fridge for a few weeks, waiting for the inspuration to make lemon meringue pie. My egg-allergy toddler is somewhere around the house, excitedly licking the beater attachments. I didn’t have cream of tartar so I used lemon juice and it’s perfect! It took me 10 mins of whipping to be really happy with it, but only because I had SO MUCH aquafaba to use up. Thank you!!!

I made my first ever aquafaba meringues today, and just played around with a few things. The best thing I learned is: after you’ve whipped and flavored and whipped again, put the bowl in the fridge for about 30 mins before spooning or piping the meringue batter onto the parchment. My 2nd batch waited in the bowl in the fridge while my first batch finished baking – and the 2nd batch (which I did not whip again after removing from the fridge) held their height better and even puffed a bit more in the oven than the first batch. Both batches were incredibly delicious & crispy & lighter than angels’ wings; I made peppermint flavor w/drizzled chocolate on top.

Hi, I just made a batch of black beans in my pressure cooker, and the left over water I sauteed down and its now thick and creamy, a little salty even tho I only added a pinch in with the dry beans amd water when I started. Will it work as the same consistiancy? I was thinking of making some savory breakfast quinoa muffins with it, I was just checking before I tossed it.

The reason chickpea liquid whips up so well is because it is full of saponins… aka soap. Beans mostly have saponins, which causes bloating (rinse out sapinins after initial soak). Your whipped chickpea liquid makes a nice facial wash or shaving cream. Japanese use adzuki beans to make high end soap. Signed: plant bioligistRebecca

Actually saponification and saponins are two very different things. Soponification is a chemical process where lye and fat become one, making soap. Saponins are a chemical in plants that make them foam.

I don’t always eat vegan but this came in so handy, my vegan friends were over and it just so happened chick peas were in the vegan roasted garlic artichoke fritters I was making. I had a ton of fruit in a crisp in oven so I tried a whipped cream w it. I put the cream of tartar, cardamom cinnamon vanilla n a lil date nectar(great sweetener and high in potassium)I wasn’t a fan of the consistency so I melted about a tbsp of coconut oil n whipped more. It definitely helped, made it look glossier and the consistency was better. I hope that wasn’t just a fluke!

Hi. It is amazing to find this recipe. Thank you. I was wondering if you could use it in the making of lentil and chickpea patties to replace the egg that binds it together for frying. I would love to make it without egg but never found anything to replace the egg that works as well.

Hi i would like to try aquafaba to make some macarons but what is the added cream of tartar??????
I already tried one day aquafaba like cream to add at a cake but my kids didn’t like really the taste and the consistance !
I think I have to change sth!?
Thanks for answer!☺

But why not use this in banana bread!??? I see so many banana breads with other egg replacers but why not use this? I might go ahead and give it a try but I’m not sure if I should be whipping it first?! hmm!

Hi everyone, I was super excited when I saw how beautifully it whipped up into “meringue” but it literally vanished into thin air as soon as i put it in the oven… :( Does anyone know why this happened and how to avoid it? I used the temp from the recipe i was following..

Cream of tartar is actually an acidic component, so some people have had luck replacing it with lemon juice or vinegar in a pinch; or you can leave it out, but your whip will be less stiff and stable. I’m guessing this news comes after your bake sale. Hope it went well!

Hi ..
I made the meringue cookies .. at least I tried to .. after 6 min beating I had really nice stiff peaks & made beautiful “peaked scoops” on my baking sheet.. put them in the oven on 200f & within just a few min they were completely flat & almost looked evaporated!! Only thing I can think of is I used 200f convection bake & I also substituted a fine granular monk fruit sugar (instead of reg white granular) (sugar consistency felt the same) anyway unfortunately did not work for me.. I will try again in a reg oven ( not using conventional)

For a meringue, I can see convection being devastating (just as the meringue is trying to set, you suddenly have a bunch of air moving around, effectively blowing it down). Did you try again without convection? How did it go?

Hello, I didn’t realize I was throwing out the good stuff and the liquid I have been dispensing seems perfect. I followed the instructions on the back of the bag they came in, and when they had finished cooking I let them sit until completely cool. Last time I left the liquid and put the beans in the fridge. The juice had completely coagulated which seems to be a good sign. So I suggest following the cooking instructions that come with your beans. Hope this helps.

I’m trying to minimize using canned products for cooking but using aquafaba sounds really intriguing. When I’m using canned products, I regularly try to rinse out all the liquid before using the main ingredient (e.g. chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans.,etc. ) Wondering what your thoughts are on using the liquid that’s been in the can.

Hi. I make the aquafaba pudding, using 4 oz of semisweet baking chocolate. I’ve been trying to perfect the recipe. I did add cream of tarter, and I added a bit of vanilla to the chocolate before adding it. I’ve had disasters, I learned what chocolate seizing meant. I wasn’t beating it long enough before. I still get a separation of some liquid when I add the chocolate, like the texture takes three steps back when I add it. However, I was trying to whip it in. Maybe that was too aggressive? I love the taste, and the texture is improving. If you try it and it turns out perfect, let me know what you did.

Hey, I’m not a professional or anything but in my experience you should always fold whipped ingredients (like whipped aquafaba, whipped cream etc.) into your dough/mixture if you want to keep the fluff/air going. If you keep on mixing/whipping the already whipped ingredients into the dough/mixture, the air will come out completely, and the texture will go back to how it was before (more or less) and it might not be as easy to get a homogeneous mass. Hope this could be of some help ?

Hi folks I just came an add for your café today, and your food offers look scrumptious. I had only heard of making “whipped cream” from tofu, or full-fat coconut milk. Can the aquafaba be kept cold, and used for a whipped cream replacement? Thanks, Cynthia

If I’m replacing the eggs in a recipe, how much aquafaba per egg? If I’m using the aquafaba as a binder (like in veggie burgers), does it need to be whipped first, or can I just use it straight (after shaking) from the can?
Thank you.

Hi Lucy! Generally 3 tbsp of aquafaba to one egg, but this really depends on whether your aquafaba is close to the right consistency. It should be a bit slimy, but not too thick, and not too runny. Ideally it should be the same consistency as egg whites. Hope this helps! For veggie burgers or if using as a binder, treat it just as you would an egg (so to achieve an egg-like consistency, whipping is important)
Hope this helps!

Most burger recipes don’t require an egg but a veggie burger might. This wouldn’t make it vegan though. A veggie burger needs something like an egg to hold it together, hence an egg or egg substitute. Using this egg substitute would help make a veggie burger vegan for those who care.

Hi Fred! Cream of tartar is one of those mystery ingredients you might have seen in your grandma’s pantry without knowing what it’s used for. It’s a dry, powdery, acidic byproduct of fermenting grapes into wine. Its sciency name is potassium bitartrate, aka potassium hydrogen tartrate or tartaric acid (hence the name). But you can find it in the spice aisle labeled as plain ol’ cream of tartar. Adding a small amount of cream of tartar causes the aquafaba to whip up much easier, faster, and makes the peaks firmer. Hope this helps!

Hi Laura! Brands of aquafaba vary in their consistency, salt, and preservative content. Aquafaba made from soy or other legumes may be different. Also, if you’re making it on your own, you won’t know the exact concentration so its a little tricky to tell.

Thank you! I have been trying to find a simple way to get salt-free aquafaba and none of the stores near me sell a salt-free canned chickpeas, which brought me here. I love chickpeas and prefer them from scratch anyway – now I get the aquafaba free of salt as a bonus :-)

Hello :-) I love aquafaba and I’ve been using is for a while to make vegan mayo and vegan butter. Good stuff. I always us my food processor with good results so I would assume the Vitamix would work since it’s another processor but much more powerful and would probably work too. Hope this helps :-)

A Vitamix won´t make aquafaba stiff because of the blades. It doesn´t add air like a hand blender or whisk will, so not only will it not whip the aquafaba, but it will take the air out of already whipped aquafaba.

Hi Joann! Generally 3 tbsp of aquafaba to one egg, but this really depends on whether your aquafaba is close to the right consistency. It should be a bit slimy, but not too thick, and not too runny. Ideally it should be the same consistency as egg whites. Hope this helps!

When using it as a meringue, how long would you say it keeps if refrigerated? I’m making your lemon bars and want to pipe some aquafaba meringue on top but I’m imagining it turning into a runny mess overnight!

My daughter made a delicious aquafaba meringue. She refrigerated what was left in the bowl, it tasted just like marshmallows. The following day, it was not as peaked, but more to the consistency of getting wet, and not running but not peaked. I’m sure there may be a way to get it to stay. Good hunting.

Hi Elizabeth! The rule of thumb is to treat it like egg whites. A few days shouldn’t be a problem in the fridge, but if you plan on keeping it more than a week or two, you’re probably better off freezing it.